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HOW TO MAKE 
GRAPE CULTURE 
PROFITABLE 
IN CALIFORNIA 




WITH EXPLANATION 

A OF CALIFORNIA 

V V I N E OR 

ANAHEIM DISEASE 



By H. HOOPS, Wrights, California 




Class 
Book. 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



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HOW TO MAKE 



GRAPE CULTURE 
PROFITABLE 



IN 



CALIFORNIA 



WITH EXPLANATION OF CALIFORNIA 
VINE OR ANAHEIM DISEASE 



BY 

H. HOOPS 

WRIGHTS, CAL. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1904, by H. Hoops, in the 
office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 
JUL 18 J904 

t Cooyrffht Entry 

C>LAS3 (K, xXe. No. 
OPYB 



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PREFACE. 

In writing this booklet it is not my aim to give anything that 
can be found in other works of a similar nature or the current agri- 
cultural periodicals, but shall try to explain, !a*s much as my poor 
ability as a scribe allows me, the ideas and methods which have 
proved valuable in my own viticultural practice. 

Although in the choice and treatment of varieties of grapes my 
suggestions pertain principally to coast regions of northern Califor- 
nia ; I believe that viticulturists living in interior localities will be 
assisted by them in the improvement of their own practices and in 
the selection of better varieties adapted to their own local condi- 
tions. 

In regard to my explanation of the California vine disease 
question, I shall let that part of the book speak for itself, and it 
would be untimely for me to make any further comments on it. I 
shall leave this to the intelligence and fairness of the California vine 
growers to decide whether T am right or not in my conclusions. 

Wrights, Cal., March 1, 1904. H. HOOPS. 



CHAPTER I. 

California Vine or Anaheim Disease— Its Cause and Nature. 

This disease has been under my special observation for the last 
live years It may have been in this vicinity longer than that, but 
it it was, I did not notice it. The varieties mostly affected are the 
Muscat of Alexandria, Black Ferrara and Cornichon, and these only 
in such places where the soil is rich the vines grew vigorously and 
bore heavy crops. Where, for certain reasons, they did not grow 
vigorous foliage or bear abundantly, whether the soil was poor or 
rich, they have remained healthy so far. This seemingly would 
prove the contention of some, that the heavy bearing of a vine is 
ihe cause of the trouble. But Viniferas produce heavily also in 
countries where the disease is unknown, besides vines have died 
with it that did not bear at all. 

After observing the disease closely for the last four or five 
years, 1 believe, I do not make a mistake when I claim, that its 
prime cause is the great change in the moisture contents of our 
soils from wet in the spring to dry during the latter part of the 
summer; as it occurs in California on irrigated lands as well as un- 
irngatecl. if the soil was always as wet as in the spring or always 
as dry as during the latter part of the summer, no matte? how small 
the growth of the vines, there would not be this disease 

in order to prove this more clearly, 1 irrigated some Muscat 
and Black Ferrara vines heavily during the fore part of June two 
years ago as well as last year, by soaking up the ground thoroughly 
around them. The vines were about 15 years old ami stood on 
ground which had never been cultivated except the first ye^r or two 
during their existence. The soil they grew on is a rich, deep, clayey 
loam As I left the trench unworked the water soon evaporated 
and the ground was as dry as ever. Some of the vines had an attack 
the first summer and the others this summer, while all the rest of 
the vines on the same uncultivated ground, which were not irrigated 
are as healthy and thrifty as ever, in fact went through this last most 
trying of all dry seasons in this locality better than any of my vines 
on cultivated ground. This was because the ground was dry al- 
ready when they started growth in the spring and the change from 
we to dry, therefore not so great. T have made other observations 
and conducted other experiments to prove this cause as asserted. 
but it would lead off too far to explain them here 

I suppose the roots of most vines are similar to cutting's ■ if cut 
tings have been kept too wet and then are exposed to the & air thev 
will dry out in a short time and be worthless ; but if thev have been 
kept in dry sand, they will endure exposure for a lono- time Stand 
ing in a wet soil during the forepart of the vines' seasonal growth 
leaves the roots with less power to resist dryness later on 

I guarantee that vines cultivated and 'irrigated both as laid 
down by myself in the chapter on preventive methods, will neve ■ 
be attacked. On the other hand I guarantee to produce the din 
>n a vineyard of a uniform clayey or loamy soil/where Viniferas on 



4 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

their own, California, Riparia or Rupestris roots are twelve or 
more years old, bnt where at present no disease exists, by causing 
the greatest possible difference through cultivation and irrigation 
methods between moisture contents of soil during May and June, 
so that the vine throws out immense foliage and sets a heavy crop, 
and moisture contents of soil during July and August, within three 
\ ears from commencement of treatment. This would be easy work 
indeed, but I may be able to do the same thing with a five-year-old 
vineyard, at least in some localities. 

The greater the difference in the moisture contents of a soil be- 
tween spring and fall, the greater the liability of the vines to at- 
tack, not considering the slight resistance which some varieties of 
Vinifera possess. Such is generally the case in all rich clayey or 
loamy soils, as these have the greatest capacity for holding mois- 
ture and at the same time offer the greatest facility for the complete 
escape of moisture through capillary attraction. The vine on such 
soils causes its own destruction by evaporating and depleting the 
soil moisture through its excessive foliage and crop. Like a good 
many, I have been under the impression that on rich ground the 
moisture supply never gave out. Digging down once during August 
and September in places where I knew the ground was heavil) 
charged with moisture during spring and had been carefully culti- 
vated and the vines made immense growth. I found the ground 
just as dry or drier than in the poorer places, where the growth was 
much smaller. The change from wet to dry was much greater on 
the rich than on the poor ground and therefore the vines suc- 
cumbed more quickly. 

Different from countries with summer rains, a distinct differ- 
ence must be made in California in regard to soils between the' 
terms "rich" and "moist," and "poor" and "dry." A rich soil is gen- 
erally wet or moist in the spring and by careful cultivation remains 
moist if there is not much growing on it, but if any vines or 
trees with large top-growth are drawing from its mois- 
ture supply, it may become exceedingly dry. A poor soil 
is not necessarily dry during the latter part of the sum 
mer, unless it is shallow or clayey at the same time. 
If it is loose, deep and mixed with gravel and small rocks, 
which form an impediment to the rising of the moisture to the sur- 
face, it generally remains much moister than richer soils. As vines 
do not grow so exuberantly on such soils, the moisture supply is 
not depleted. Very deep, coarse soils in valleys may become dry, 
as the moisture sinks away out of reach of the roots and what is 
left near the surface, is soon exhausted by the vines. 

The trouble, of course, is greatly augmented by excessive bear- 
ing of a vine and by irregular moisture contents of a soil from year 
to year, very dry seasons following wet ones and vice versa. It is 
simply a collapse, paralysis of the vital energy of the vine, brought 
about as mentioned. It is not an infectious disease; no vine will 
take it from another. If the trouble was of such a nature, there would 
not be any vines left, even in northern California, at this time, as the 
disease has been found and identified already sixteen years ago in 



California Vine or Anaheim Disease — Cause and Nature 5 

parts of Napa and Sonoma counties by Professors Viala and Serib- 
ner. 

That in some localities whole vineyards have died in a short 
time, is because in the first place the Cause and the augmenting 
factors mentioned, were very pronounced; in the second place the 
vines stood on a uniform soil, made uniform growth and therefore 
died off uniformly. On account of the richness and great uniformity 
of all alluvial soils the trouble has been greatest in valleys. Mount- 
ain soils are more "spotted," and for this reason the disease has ap- 
peared only in spots so far, wherever conditions were most favor- 
able. 

It has been called by some the vine-top disease, also in some 
of the earlier reports the statement is made, that the disease first 
appears at the end of the canes. This is wrong ; tops and roots are 
attacked simultaneously, although generally in a different degree. 
If the roots were sound, there would be a bushy growth of healthy 
suckers coming from its base. As it is, if these come at all, they 
only come sparingly and sickly from the beginning. True, the 
symptoms of the disease are first visible on the young foliage. 

To ascertain this more clearly, I root-pruned during the winter 
several vines, which had made vigorous growth the preceding sum- 
mer, but which had shown signs of attack in yellow spots appear- 
ing on their leaves, by digging a trench around them about three 
feet deep and four feet from their bases. As the soil was shallow 
but rich and the vines extended their roots horizontally in all di- 
rections twenty feet and more, the root-pruning was thorough. I 
also root-pruned some healthy vines in the same manner. Exam- 
ining the roots of these vines the following summer I found the 
young root-growth on the healthy ones strong and sound, but on the 
attacked ones small and sickly, similar to the top-growth. 

If we are anxious to give a name to the disease, I believe "Par- 
alysis of the Grape Vine" is the most appropriate one. I shall point 
out a few similarities between human paralysis and the California 
vine disease : In both vital activity, which manifests itself in man 
principally in voluntary motion, and in the grape vine in the growth 
of new wood, is impaired, although without any outward sign on 
the main body. In both the young are less subject to an attack than 
the old. Like a human the vine sometimes is affected on one side 
only, while the other side remains healthy at least for some time. 
A predisposition to attack is increased in man by rich living, so 
vines on rich ground are more susceptible to the disease than vines 
on poor ground. In human paralysis there are different degrees of 
attack, so vines are attacked differently, some more severely than 
others. 

It is a curious fact that cuttings taken from only slightly af- 
fected vines will grow fairly well as long as the vines are young, 
the soil moisture is not exhausted and so the cause of the disease 
does not exist, but as soon as this appears again the vine has an- 
other attack during the latter part of the summer and then fails to 
make proper growth the following spring. 

In grafting an old Muscat vine three years ago, which had suf- 



6 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

fered a stroke on one side, to Cornichon, a much more resistant vari- 
ety with me, I inserted a scion into the healthy portion of the stock. 
The graft making but small growth the following two years, the 
vine recovered. If this was a disease, permeating the vine from a 
small beginning, recovery would have been impossible, considering 
its fatal character otherwise. 

The gist of the whole matter is, the Viniferas and several Amer- 
ican species are not exactly adapted to California soil conditions, or 
rather moisture conditions in the soil as they generally exist in cul- 
tivated ground. They cannot adapt themselves at first to an excess 
of moisture and bountiful supply of food and within a short time 
afterwards to great dryness and scantiness of nourishment. The 
vine not being a rational and economical being, during the forepart 
of summer throws out a much stronger foliage and sets a much 
heavier crop than it can support properly without injury to its vital- 
ity, although at the time without any apparent distress. This ex- 
ceedingly free and excessive growth of the Viniferas, and still more 
so of Riparia and Rupestris, during the early summer constitutes 
a second cause to the disease. We cannot lessen the moisture sup- 
ply of the soil during the forepart of the vine's growth very well, 
except by quitting irrigation at this time where this is practiced, 
but we can avert the weakening of the vine during the latter part 
of the summer through preventive methods. These will be neces- 
sary, as the susceptibility of the Viniferas to attack by the disease 
increases from year to year, so that in the future no locality will be 
exempt from its ravages without their employment. 

In conformity with my views the Lenoir has shown itself a re- 
sistant. I shall state here, that whenever the word "resistant" is 
used in this treatise, it means resistant to California vine disease, 
unless otherwise stated. The Lenoir as is well known is adapted 
to wet, heavy soils and also to dry ones, if these are clayey. It is a 
hybrid of Vitis cinerea, adapted to heavy, wet soils, and a Vinifera 
and Astivalis variety, best adapted to drier conditions. 

The Champini also has outlived almost any other vine in the 
Santa Clara Valley. It is a hybrid of V. candicans with Rupestris, 
The former is adapted both to very wet and dry conditions. Al- 
though the Champinis are generally recommended for "dry" soils 
only, they certainly must also have some resistance against excess 
of moisture, as they take considerably after Candicans. For this 
reason vines like Riparia, Rupestris and Vinifera, not possessing 
the wide range of adaptation to the great changes from wet to dry, 
as the two vines mentioned, have succumbed. 

It seems that such resistants can be obtained only by hybridiza- 
tion and especially by hybridizing species, adapted to wet, with 
some adapted to drier conditions. Certain it is, that by hvbridiz- 
ing varieties of different species, adapted to different climatic and 
soil conditions, vines can be produced, possessing a much greater 
power of adaptability than either one of the parents. But it is verv 
likely, that certain species, as the Cinerea, Cordifolia, Rerlandieri 
and especially the Candicans, have a great flexibility of adaptation 
in themselves. Vines found wild on soils of a close or compact tex- 



California Vine or Anaheim Disease — Cause and Nature 7 

ture in countries, where drouths are not infrequent, must possess 
this characteristic, while vines found wild on loose sandy or grav- 
elly soils, where the extremes of wet and dry do not occur, are de- 
void of the adaptability to such conditions. As we cannot use the 
vines mentioned, on account of non-rooting of their cuttings, we 
shall have to take recourse to their hybrids with Vinifera, Riparia 
and others, which have not this fault. 

There are two points in the general characteristics of Rupestris 
St. George, which speak against its success in California viticul- 
ture. The first and most important is, that it does not thrive in dry 
shallow soils in France, although it is drouth-enduring in "dry" (?), 
deep soils on account of its deep-rooting. This shows that its roots 
in themselves are not resistant to dryness. The second point is that 
in wet soils it is affected with root rot. We can see by this that it 
has only a narrow adaptation. It is a hybrid of V. Monticola and 
Rupestris or, as claimed by some, of the former and Riparia. It par- 
takes of the characteristics of the pure Rupestris varieties, but has 
the advantage over these in its thicker, more penetrating and ver- 
tical roots, which enable it to get a quicker start in most any soils, 
but especially compact ones. 

The Riparia and Rupestris varieties should as a rule not be used 
except where irrigation is possible, and even there I believe other 
varieties will prove more valuable. I doubt that the Rupestris as 
grafting stocks are more resistant against extreme dryness than the 
Riparias ; I even doubt that they are as hardy against moisture 
changes in the soil as the latter ; only on account of their habit of 
sending down their roots deeply into the substrata, where they gen- 
erally find plenty of moisture in all countries with summer rains, 
they are more drouth-enduring. But in California conditions are 
different. As has been stated, in all soils of a compact nature, in- 
cluding gravelly clays and loams, especially in valleys of an alluvial 
formation, the diffusion of moisture through capillary attraction is 
so even and uniform, that if these become dry two or three feet 
below the surface, they are also dry fifteen or twenty feet further 
down, providing there is no moisture near arising from ground 
water. A vine sending down its roots deeply into such soils there- 
fore has but little better show that a more shallow-rooting one. Of 
course I do not want to be understood, that deep, penetrating roots 
of a stock, whether these are laterals from horizontal main roots 
as in the case of the Lenoir, or are vertical main roots as those of the 
Champini, are not preferable in California in anv soil, as we can- 
not always tell what is hidden under the surface. On the other 
hand mountain soils, especially the deep, loose, gravelly ones, which 
are generally underlaid by an impenetrable substratum, which does 
not allow the seepage coming down the hillside to escape out ot 
reach of the roots, give most any kind of a vine a better chance. 
Compact soils in mountains are more similar to valley conditions. 

While the Riparias require a rich, moist soil, the Rupestris are 
adapted to poor, moist gravelly or sandy soils. They cannot endure 
continued dry or wet conditions, nor great changes from wet to drv. 
The Rupestris St. George is similar to these latter, but as has been 



8 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

stated, on account of its more penetrating roots takes a quicker start 
and grows more vigorously. But any vine, which makes vigorous 
top-growth, will soon exhaust the soil moisture in California, and 
then if it has not an inherent resistance to dryness, will succumb. 
My experience with the Rupestris St. George is, that it grows ex- 
ceedingly well while young, but as soon as it receives a Vinifera 
top, attains full size and exhausts the soil moisture, it begins to 
show signs of distress. It may do fairly well on deep, loose, poor, 
gravelly hillsides in localities with ample rainfall and careful culti- 
vation, but even on such soils the Champini will grow and pay 
much better. 

I shall say here that the same cause may prevent the thrifty 
growth of a vine or effect its death in some other manner ; this 
would be more the case on the poorer soils. For this reason also 
Viniferas, grafted on Riparia or Rupestris, contrary to French ex- 
perience, do not bear so well or produce as large grapes in Califor- 
nia, as they do on their own roots. The fruit and leaves of a vine 
sunburning badly, can also be traced back to this. It is not caused 
entirely by the direct rays of the sun, as is supposed by most, but 
indirectly and principally by the dryness of the soil. Whenever 
some of the roots become distressed, it affects those grapes and 
leaves, which are fed by them. The sunburning occurs on rich as 
well as on dry ground for reasons, which can easily be seen from 
explanations in other parts of this treatise. It may easily be de- 
ducted from the above that not much can be expected from the 
Riparia-Rupestris hybrids. 

One of the principal differences in the characteristics of plants 
of cold and those of tropical and semi-tropical countries is the great- 
er or less amount of heat there is required to cause evaporation of 
moisture through their foliage and so vital activity. Tropical plants 
transplanted into cold countries would die for want of proper ex- 
halation of moisture and sap circulation, and cold climate plants 
transplanted into hot countries would die on account of a too 
rapid evaporation of moisture through their leaves, but these latter 
would last much longer under such conditions, if the soil contains 
plenty of moisture, than if it is deficient in this. We see by this that 
adaptation to certain climatic and soil conditions rests not only in 
the roots of a plant but also in its foliage. For this reason top- 
grafting resistants on non-resistants has been quite effective in sav- 
ing Viniferas for a number of years; for the same reason, grafting 
non-resistants on resistants has not been a complete success, at 
least not in certain localities. But as some very fair results have 
been obtained with grafting stocks like Lenoir, Champini and others 
without any other precautionary measures, a much better showing 
can certainly be made in the future, considering our better knowl- 
edge of the matter. 



Preventive Methods of California Vine Diseases 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Preventive Methods of California Vine Diseases. 
1. Method. Selection of Proper Resistant Grafting-Stocks. 

There are four requirements with which good resistant stocks 
should comply : 1. Resistance to California vine disease or greatest 
possible range of adaptation to the changes from wet to dry in the 
soil; 2. Resistance to Phylloxera; 3. Adaptation to other climatic 
and soil conditions ; 4. Affinity and good general behavior after 
grafting to Viniferas. 

In order to overcome the weakness of the Vinifera top and as 
any slight injury to the roots of a vine or tree may cause overbear- 
ing, an augmenting factor to the disease, it is plain, that only graft- 
ing stocks possessing the highest resistance against the Phylloxera 
as well as the greatest flexibility of adaptation both to wet and dry 
conditions of the soil, are perfectly safe. A resistance-coefficient of 
16 is generally considered high enough for any soil, as it makes the 
vine safe against any injury to its roots by the Phylloxera. This 
does not say that a higher one is not preferable, providing the othei 
qualities of the stock in question are as good. I have been under the 
impression for some time, that vines with thick fleshy roots are the 
best for California conditions. Of two vines, having the same adapt- 
ability, the one with the thickest roots will be the most dryness-en- 
during. For this reason the Solonis, which has small roots but a 
great adaptation to short changes from wet to dry and vice versa. 
as is attested to by French experience and that of Mr. T. V. Mun- 
son, does not last at all during our long, dry summers. 

It does not matter materially, whether the main roots extend 
themselves horizontally and the laterals run down deeply, or the 
main roots approach a vertical direction. I believe, for rich, level 
and irrigated lands I should prefer the former, as I think they will 
give better results, and for loose gravelly soils the latter. In such 
soils the moisture cannot rise to the surface by capillary attractions, 
but settles down by gravity ; the usefulness of a vine with very deep 
vertical main roots is therefore apparent 

New vines intended for stocks can be tested in the following 
manner: On a piece of level, clayey ground, either shallow or of 
an even texture to a great depth, some of the vines should be planted 
along with some Lenoir, Vinifera- and Riparia-Berlandieri for com- 
parison. They should be either rooted cutting-grafts, or if ungraft- 
ed should receive a Vinifera top as soon as large enough for graft- 
ing, as testing stocks with their own tops would be of no importance, 
because they act quite differently after being grafted. In order to 
accelerate the testing it is best to plant the vines rather close, about 
six feet each way. The plot should be well cultivated the first two 
years in order to enable the vines to get a quick start. The third 
year the ground should also be well cultivated up to the last rain ; 
after that it should not be stirred any more, in order to let a crust 
form on the surface. During June it should be irrigated about once 
a week, to soak it up well with water and the irrigating furrows left 



io How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

unstirred, to facilitate the escape of moisture after irrigation is dis- 
continued about the last of June. No matter how the work is done, 
it should be performed so, that the ground is excessively wet dur- 
ing June and excessively dry during July and August. This last 
point should be ascertained, as the young vines would use up but 
very little moisture. The fourth and fifth year the experiment of the 
third year should be repeated. After the fifth or sixth year some of 
the vines should be taken up to see if any dead roots are present. 

For vines intended for loose, gravelly soils on hillsides in the 
coast region such a severe test as the above would not be necessary. 
A piece of ground of gravelly clay could be selected for the testing 
plot and then treated in a similar manner, but without irrigation. 
The test as directed above is according to the climatic conditions 
of my own locality, the Santa Cruz Mountains ; the same conducted 
in some other places would need modifications. The vines should 
not suffer so much during July, August and September, as to be en- 
tirely stunted and so be unable to make vigorous growth the follow- 
ing spring. A vine injured so much as not to do this, as is the case 
when it is badly damaged by the Phylloxera, is not attacked by the 
disease. To make sure, that a stock entirely overcomes the weak- 
ness of its Vinifera-top and makes it perfectly immune from attack 
by the disease, would take a long time, i. e. if healthy scions arc 
taken for grafting. If such are not taken then the test would be in- 
adequate. All we can do is to find a hardy root, which corrects as 
much as possible the faulty tendencies of its Vinifera top, which are 
excessive spring-growth and lagging activity during the latter part 
of summer. In what degree this is accomplished can be seen in the 
course of five or six years, if the above directions are followed. 
Most anybody with an observing eye will be able to tell in a few 
years, which will do and which will not. Those, which make the 
most vigorous growth from the beginning are not necessarily the 
best, in fact stocks which cause their Vinifera tops to make earlier 
and more excessive spring-growth like Riparia and Rupestris do ; 
will also increase their susceptibility to the disease. The ideal stock 
should cause its graft to make later and less vigorous growth dur- 
ing spring and the leaves of the latter should not lose their healthy, 
glossy appearance during July and August, nor the even ripening 
of its fruit come to a standstill. The Lenoir and the Champini come 
very near having such an effect on their Vinifera top. A perfect de- 
velopment of the fruit is the best indicator of the hardiness of the 
root of the vine or its adaptation to existing soil conditions. 

A third and probably the quickest and most efficacious test, if 
properly and carefully conducted, could be made by grafting on the 
resistant stocks cuttings taken out of a vineyard in which a good 
many vines have been killed off by the disease. These cuttings 
should be taken from the remaining, apparently healthy vines pre- 
ferably of varieties which succumb very slowly and gradually, but 
surely, like the Muscat of Alexandria. They should be cut up in 
scion lengths, then well mixed and grafted on the stocks to be tried. 
Some vines like Lenoir, Champini and others, whose hardiness is 
known, should be planted in the same plot for comparison. Such 



Species of Vitis ii 

grafts generally, if the ground is worked as directed for the first 
mentioned test, will show the disease in a few years, no matter how 
hardy the stocks, but it can easily be ascertained by this method, 
what stock has the greatest beneficial influence on its Vinifera top. 
I am inclined to think that it is best in California to plant hardy 
resistants, which are free growers, ungrafted in the field and let 
them go without grafting for three or four years and in localities, 
where the disease has been very destructive or if Viniferas are want- 
ed, which are very susceptible to the disease, even longer. In post- 
poning the grafting, the vines are not weakened with a Vinifera top, 
while very young, as the latter is apt to weaken most any stock, 
which will be explained later. It is possible that certain hardy 
resistants which are slow growers, are induced to quicker growth, 
if they receive a Vinifera top while very young, as the more quickly 
and freely growing Riparia and Rupestris stocks have this same ef- 
fect on their grafts. In such cases it may be advantageous if a 
quicker growth is desired, to make cutting-grafts or graft the vines 
in the field while they are young. . 

Species of Vitis, Valuable for Hybridizing in the Creation of New 

Grafting-Stocks. 

V. candicans or Mustang grape. This is considered the 
hardiest of any American species and occurs according to 
T. V. Munson, in lower as well as upper bottoms of upland ravines 
on the "black waxy lands." Such soils are exceedingly wet while the 
rains last, but become during a drouth exceedingly dry, much drier 
than the more elevated, loose, gravelly soils, generally called dry. 
In fact two of its hybrids, Champini and Elvicand (Cand. Riparia 
Labrusca), have outlived any other vines, used as grafting stocks 
on Mr. William Pfeffer's place in the Santa Clara Valley. 

V. cinerea. This vine has thick, fleshy roots and occurs wild 
on rich heavy soils, although also on rich sandy soils. From it its 
progeny, the Lenoir, has undoubtedly inherited the greater portion 
of its wide range of adaptation. I should like to ask those, who 
claim the Lenoir to be a pure Vinifera, how they explain its great 
resemblence to the Cinerea in leaf and root ; also, where its resist- 
ance to Phylloxera comes from. It would be the only Vinifera pos- 
sessing this resistance. 

V. cordifolia occurs on "the lower and higher bottoms of up- 
land ravines." It has produced vines having the largest trunks of 
any American species and has very thick, penetrating, highly Phyll- 
oxera-resisting roots. The hybrids Riparia-Cordifolia-Rupestris 
1068 and Solonis-Cordifolia-Rupestris 2024 may have some value 
for California, but no attention must be paid to French experi- 
menters' recommendations of vines for clays. The fact is that even 
for our gravelly and sandy unirrigated lands we can use with safety 
only vines which have stood the test on clays in countries with sum- 
mer rains and only very few kinds of such. I don't think the two 
hybrids mentioned are as well adapted to California clays as the 



.. ot „ 



12 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

Lenoir is and can fill its place ; still they may have great value for 
soils which have been considered well suited for Riparia hereto- 
fore. Most any vine, which thrives in clays, will do well also in 
gravelly or sandy soils of rich or medium quality. 

V. Berlandieri. This species occurs along the top of lime- 
stone ridges as well as on creek bottoms of western Texas and ad- 
joining territories, but it is also found on compact soils. As this 
is in a very dry region, its scope of adaptation probably approaches 
more extreme dry than moist conditions. It is probably more 
dryness-enduring than any other species of Vitis. The Riparia-Ber- 
landieris are recommended to us by French experimenters as pos- 
sessing the very qualities which will prove so valuable in California. 
The Vinifera- and Rupestris-Berlandieris will very likely also have 
very great value, especially for coarse gravelly soils or dry clayey 
ridges and slopes in mountains, which never hold a great excess of 
moisture. The above named four species have a great affinity in 
grafting to the Viniferas, which is very important. 

V. riparia. I am of the opinion that the roots of vines of this 
species have a fairly good adaptability to moisture changes pro- 
vided the soil does not become too dry, but on account of their 
fineness, shallowness and lack of penetrating power, the Riparia 
as grafting stock has, as a rule, not been a success on unirrigated 
lands in California. Considering its value as a grafting stock in 
other respects, Riparia hybrids therefore without the faults of the 
pure varieties and all their good qualities should prove a success. 

V. rupestris. This species has little adaptability; the pure 
varieties therefore have no value for California. Hybrids possess- 
ing their adaptability to poor soils and their deep, downward roots, 
but stronger and hardier, would have usefulness for poor gravelly 
soils. Very much misleading is in French writings on viticultural 
topics the expression "dry soils," by which generally coarse grav- 
elly soils are meant. True, deep gravelly soils, which are the only 
ones that have been found to be well adapted to Rupestris in 
France, are not excessively wet during a rainy spell, but neither 
are they as dry in their lower depths at the end of a drouth as the 
richer close-textured soils. The Rupestris occurs wild in the grav- 
elly and rocky beds of "dry" runs and creeks, which contain no 
water visible after springtime, but in a good many cases this has 
simply sunk out of sight. Moisture arising from such water, with 
occasional rains produce ideal conditions for this species. 

V. californica. This, our own native vine, whose great value 
in this respect has been unwisely overlooked in late years. Its fault 
of lack of proper resistance against Phylloxera and of sufficient 
hardiness should be very small trouble to correct by proper hybrid- 
ization with any of the four species ahead in this list. No vine of 
purely American origin is superior to it in adaptation to our cli- 
matic conditions and in easy rooting from cuttings. Riparias and 
Rupestris, especially the latter, which is apt to give a treacherous 
character even to a hybrid, could be dispensed with entirely, as the 
Californica will do better than either of the two in most any soil, 
poor or rich. 



Selection of Healthy Cuttings for Scions 13 

V. vinifera.This last, but not least, on account of its large and 
spreading roots and great adaptation to different soils; it also sup- 
plies a greater affinity and homogeneousness to the stock with its 
Vinifera top. The stronger the root system and the closer the rela- 
tion between stock and graft, the better are the chances of suc- 
cess. A hybrid like Aramon Rupestris No. II may give fairly good 
results, where proper irrigation can be practiced, but I believe, 
hardier stocks than this or Riparia will prove more profitable, as 
less water will be required and a better quality of fruit obtained. 

It is always safest to employ several different resistant stocks 
for the same Vinifera variety with special reference, of course, to 
their like or dislike of existing soil conditions and to their affinity 
to intended grafts, as our experience in this line is too limited to 
tell to a certainty, what stock will prove the most successful, and 
so serious losses are avoided and in course of time a good deal of 
practical knowledge is gained. All we can do at present is giving 
the Viniferas a root, which is hardy against moisture changes in 
the soil and resistant to Phylloxera. What stock will exercise the 
greatest influence on the grafts in regard to good behavior and 
longevity of vine, only time will tell. With proper grafting-stocks 
and selection of healthy cuttings for scions, as will be ex- 
plained immediately below this, better results should be 
obtained than have been with the first importations from Europe, 
not considering other preventive measures, which we can take. 
The four species Candicans, Cineria, Cordifolia and Berlandieri 
attain large size and have great vigor in their native home, but 
make only a sluggish growth under California climatic conditions. 
Their value is in hybridization with species which grow too freelv 
during the forepart of summer. Those hybrids which take more 
after the named species in their habit of growth, will very likely be 
valuable for hot interior locations or places, where the California 
vine disease has been very destructive, while hybrids, taking more 
after Vinifera, Riparia, etc., will have the greatest value for cool, 
moist coast mountain regions, or where vines like Petite Sirah, 
Beclan and Cabernet are intended for grafts and have too little 
vigor on their own roots. 

2. Method. Selection of Healthy Cuttings for Scions. 

This is probably the most serious part of the problem, as it will 
be difficult in a good many parts of California to get such. The 
disease does not come as suddenly with a good many varieties as 
is generally supposed. The Muscat of Alexandria, for instance, 
will bear heavy crops with me for years, after having sustained itb 
first attack. Others like Black Ferrara succumb more quickly. 
Yellow or brown spots on the leaves during the latter part of the 
summer are generally a sure symptom that the vine has suffered 
an attack. With some varieties the leaves curl up and the spots 
are very small. The fruit and the wood fails to mature and develop 
properly, the berries being sour and of small size. The following 
spring, according to the severity of the attack, the vine makes only 
a small growth or none at all. If the attack was very ligfht, the 



14 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

growth may reach half dimensions, but in a year or two generally 
another attack follows, which kills the vine. A predisposition 
manifests itself in excessive crops, less in loss of vigor. As has 
been previously stated, cuttings taken from only slightly affected 
vines will grow fairly well for a few years,but soon succumb 
The Viniferas growing for a number of years under favorable soil 
conditions in California, a strong predisposition to the disease is 
created or augmented in them, long before they are actually at- 
tacked. Vines propagated from cuttings, taken from such appar- 
ently healthy vines, will make satisfactory growth for several 
years, but if conditions for the development of the disease become 
more favorable again, will succumb much more quickly than the 
mother vines, from which they originated. ( It is, therefore, very 
unsafe, to take cuttings out of a vineyard, in which the disease has 
appeared to any extent, and especially unsafe if such a vineyard 
is old and located on alluvial soil in a valley, where the disease 
has been very virrulent in other parts of it. It is very probable that 
the reason why in former years the disease has been less con- 
spicuous, is because the first vines were propagated from perfectly 
sound cuttings, imported from Europe or which came from young 
perfectly healthy vines. A similar degeneration is met with in an- 
nual plants, as some kinds of potatoes, wheat, etc., which, when 
first introduced into a new locality, do exceedingly well, but after 
their culture for 3 or 4 years degenerate and fail to give satisfactory 
leturns. Propagation through cuttings is simply a prolongation 
of the life of the old vine and young vines thus started commence 
life with all the weakness and infirmities of the old mother vines. 

It is a good plan to have a plot of vines simply for the purpose 
of obtaining cuttings for new plantations. These vines should be 
carefully irrigated according to directions given below. Care 
should be taken that only sound vines are planted in such plots ; 
they should be grafted on stocks which are known to be hardy. 
Where cuttings are taken from a field it is safest to take them from 
young vines from three to six years old. Cuttings taken from vines 
on poor gravelly hillsides in cool localities with ample rainfall are 
better than if taken from vines on rich ground of any description 
or any locality. Instead of grafting resistants on old worthless 
Viniferas for the procuring of strong cuttings, as the prevailing 
custom is, they should be grafted only on young vigorous vines, 
or still better, if such mother vines stand on their own roots or on 
some other hardy stocks. 

In localities where the disease has been very destructive it is 
probably best to grow only such Viniferas, which in the past have 
shown the greatest resistance to the trouble. These are according 
to my experience those varieties which start growth late in the 
spring, mature their fruit early, do not overbear nor make excessive 
woodgrowth, as Petite Sirah, Beclan, Franken Reisling, Cabernet 
and others. Of course there are vines like Tokay, Verdel, Gren- 
ache and Carignan, that have shown a greater resistance, if stand- 
ing on a favorable soil than smaller growers and smaller bearers, 
probably on account of their stronger and more penetrating roots. 



Proper Preparation of Soil Before Planting 15 

But if the root given them is not as strong as their own, they may 
succumb more quickly or at least will not prove so profitable. It 
is rather difficult to tell at the present time, what Vinifera variety 
is the most resistant to the disease, as this would depend on the 
length of time a variety has been cultivated in California, whether 
the first imported cuttings were propagated on their own roots or 
grafted on some old Vinifera vines, on what soil and in what local- 
ity the first vines, which furnished most of the cuttings for later 
plantings, were grown, etc. 

3. Method. Proper Preparation of the Soil Before Planting. 

Before vines are planted the ground should be turned 
over deeply, no matter how rich the soil. To run a 
subsoiler in the furrow is an improvement to the old 
method of simply plowing the ground ; but even this 
can be greatly improved by following the first plow 
up with another plow in the same furrow instead of the subsoiler 
and throwing the bottom soil up on top. The humus of which 
there is a considerable amount left in most surface soils, should 
be turned down as deeply as possible, in order to prevent com- 
bustion of its organic matter, so disastrous in its effects during our 
long dry summers, and the purely mineral ingredients of the sub- 
soil turned up to the surface for exposure to the air, light and rains, 
to dissolve their plant foods. While doing this work, if the top- 
soil is devoid of humus, do not forget to put abundant organic mat- 
ter in the form of green or stable manure, straw, etc., in the bottom 
of the furrow and remember that this is the only chance you have 
to cause any material good with such things in a vineyard grow- 
ing under California conditions. Young vines planted on such 
ground will extend their roots deeply, as they find nitrogen ot 
which they are in great need and the best of other ready plant 
foods at a depth that will not easily get dry. If these foods are 
near the surface, the vines will either have to do without them or 
else their main roots will be very shallow and more exposed to 
moisture changes. Such described work puts the physical condi- 
tion of a soil at its best, which is according to the experience of the 
best cultivators of the soil the most important. 

The value of humus consists further not only in the fact that 
it is the sole source of nitrogen in the soil, but also in the generation 
of carbonic acid, so important in creating new and different com- 
binations with mineral bases for plant foods directly and indirectly, 
which would otherwise remain unavailable on account of their in- 
solubility. This work as described has really but little to do with 
the point in question, but I inserted it to make the following better 
understood. 

4. Method. Proper Cultivation. 
. With the exception of the first year, during which 
they should receive good care in order to keep them 
alive, young vines should have only the minimum mois- 
ture allowance, absolutely necessary to keep them thrifty. 
How much this is cannot be given in a certain rule, as it would 



16 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

depend on the different soil and climatic conditions of different 
localities. Jt may be said that excessive moisture during spring 
should be avoided. After the late rains in the spring the ground 
should be allowed to dry off well first before it is gone over with 
the cultivator or harrow, and then of course it should be worked 
thoroughly. Excessive soil moisture produces shallow and tender 
roots and soft top-growth, scantiness of moisture makes deep, 
hardy roots and tough top-growth. How well the moisture con- 
tents of a soil in California can be regulated by more or less culti- 
vation is not as well understood as it should be. Even the Riparia 
can be hardened and made deep-rooting by such treatment. 

By the time the vines are seven years old, they will be well 
acquainted with all the -vicissitudes of California soil conditions. 
After that the moisture allowance should be increased gradually 
from year to year, as their larger growth demands it. It is about 
as harmful to the health of the vines to hold excessive moisture ir. 
a vineyard that previously has been neglected for one or more 
years, as it is to neglect a vineyard that lias had good care before. 
The more uniform the moisture supply is one year after anothet, 
the better it will be for the welfare of the vines. Very much mis- 
calculated is also the practice of some who raise nursery stock in a 
wet place with stagnant water near the surface. Such vines, espe- 
cially if they are intended to go on dry ground, are worthless. 

5. Method. Summer Pruning. 

In order to prevent unnecessary woodgrowth and in 
consequence exhaustion of soil moisture, it is well to 
deprive the vine when it has attained an age of 6 or 7 
years, of some of its foliage and stop its extending itself to its full- 
est capacity. In doing this I top those canes, that come clown to 
the ground and trail along for some distance or which catch the 
neighboring vines, by cutting them off where they touch the 
ground. This should be done before the canes become woody, 
about two weeks before the vine gets its full growth, generally 
with me about the first or second week in July. The vines will quit 
growing then, but if done too early it will have no effect, as they 
will throw out a lot of laterals and keep on growing. I know it 
is generally advised against such work, but I believe it is much bet- 
ter to check the vigor of a vine growing under California climatic 
and soil conditions somewhat than to have it collapse later on ac- 
count of too much ambition. If not too many canes are topped or 
the work is done too late, I fail to see that it postpones the matur- 
ing of the fruit any. Where simple pinching of the terminal buds 
has the desired effect; as may be done with the smaller growers, 
then this is certainly preferable. 

In order to do this work effectively the winter-pruning should 
be close and short. All suckers as well as some of the smaller 
fruit-canes should be removed while they are small and can easily 
be rubbed off. It is best to go over a vineyard several times during 
the summer to do this and never should a lame lot of strong suck- 



Thinning Out Old Vineyards and Root-Pruning 17 

ers be removed at one time, as this would check the growth of the 
vine too much. 

6. Method. Thinning Out Old Vineyards and Root-Pruning. 

After the vines get about 15 years old and have quit extending 
themselves, or as soon as, or still better, before the first signs of 
the disease appear, I believe it best to thin out some of them, es- 
pecially if they have been planted too close, as trees and vines gen- 
erally are in California. This will give the remaining ones more 
moisture during the latter part of summer and make the difference 
between spring and fall moisture contents of soil less. These 
should be root-pruned during the winter about half-ways between 
the rows, which can easily be accomplished by horse-power with 
an implement, which could be devised for this purpose. On rich 
ground, the only kind on which it would be necessary, the main 
roots of Viniferas and of a good many American species are shal- 
low, generally from 6 to 12 inches below the depth the plowing has 
been done. 

It is best to plant vines at a greater distance than they gener- 
ally are. From 10 to 12 feet each way for valleys and from 9 to 10 
feet for mountains is not too far. The distance should vary accord- 
ing to the richness of the soil, the richer and compacter this is the 
greater the distance. It does not matter much, whether the tri- 
angular or the square form is used ; the number of vines to the acre 
will tell, whether there are too many or not. On very rich sandv 
or clayey loams in cool, moist localities, vines, which ripen their 
fruit late, should not have quite the maximum distance, as this 
would retard the maturity of the fruit. As soon as such plantings 
are about 10 or 12 years old root-pruning should be practiced oc- 
casionally. As this has a dwarfing effect on vines or trees and de- 
creases their vigor, its usefulness will be seen. Smaller vines and 
more space to hold reserve moisture for their proper maintenance 
is the object desired. If root-pruning is omitted, the vines will in 
course of time occupy the whole of the ground and make condi- 
tions as bad as ever. There are single vines in the world that 
occupy from one-half to one acre of ground. On poor gravelly 
soils where vines make but small growth, root-pruning is not 
necessary, as the vines have not enough vigor to extend their roots 
through the whole of the ground allotted to them, if planted far 
enough apart in the first place. No apprehension need be felt that 
they will not produce as heavy crops per acre as with closer plant- 
ing. These will be just as large if not larger and a better quality 
produced. Although this will not come quite as soon, vineyardists 
will be amply reimbursed in the saving of labor and other expenses. 

7. Method. Grafting Over of Old Vines. 
Grafting over a whole block, or still better, a whole tract of 
vines, especially to more resistant Viniferas, is sufficient to post- 
pone the disease for several years, because for the first time, since 
attaining full growth, as the grafts start later and their growth is 
generally smaller, they have plenty of moisture during the latter 



1 8 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

part of summer. It is needless to say that the vines at grafting 
must be perfectly healthy. 

Cutting down vines about an inch below the surface during 
winter also has a salutary effect. It may be better in California 
to do this towards spring, as the bleeding of the vines keeps back 
the growth till the excess of moisture has disappeared from the soil. 
This work should also be done in large tracts, as the moisture can 
be held more uniformly in the ground than if done in small blocks. 
It may also be that late pruning has a beneficial effect in this re- 
spect as it decreases the vigor of the vines somewhat. 

8. Method. Irrigation. 

This is probably the best preventive of any, if properly applied, 
but as it is generally practiced, i. e., filling up the ground with water 
in the spring, when it is too wet already, it is apt to make matters 
worse. Vines should not be irrigated, barring exceptional cases 
trom this statement, till about two weeks after the bloom. As 
irrigation during the summer creates shallow root-growth, this 
must be kept alive and healthy by a repetition of the practice, at 
least on heavy soils in some localities. Shallow root-growth can be 
prevented by plowing deep furrows to let the water down into 
the subsoil and so avoid moistening of the surface. Care should 
be taken not to cut any of the main roots during the summer, as 
this would be apt to weaken the vine. It is self-evident that the 
furrows should be well filled up with loose, dry soil, after the 
ground is dry enough to do this properly. The water should al- 
ways be applied in the same places. Young vines should not be 
irrigated, unless it is impossible, as may be the case in some in- 
terior localities, to keep them in healthy growing condition without 
: t. In such cases it should be done early and not late. 

The cause of the trouble may also be explained thus : The 
climatic and soil conditions of California being both very favorable 
during the forepart of the season, cause the vine to make excessive 
and soft growth in root and top ; while the climatic conditions re- 
main the same, the soil condition becomes very adverse later on. 
So a good way to strengthen vines again, which are weak already in 
this respect, would be to hold only a fair amount of moisture in the 
soil with spring cultivation and then irrigate heavily and frequent- 
ly later in the season, where this can be done. For reasons ob- 
vious from the above young vines are seldom attacked, even if the 
cuttings used for their propagation were taken from vines, in which 
a predisposition to the disease was already strongly developed, be- 
cause they have plenty of moisture during the latter part of the sea- 
son, as they do not make sufficient growth to exhaust the moisture 
supply. 

All these preventive methods are given with regard to Vini- 
feras on their own roots. Whether these, excepting proper irriga- 
tion, would be of much avail for vines grafted on Rupestris, which 
has a much weaker adaptation in this respect than the Vinifera 
root has, I cannot tell. 

Resume: In order to prevent the disease, be very careful in 



Spraying the Vines 19 

the selection of healthy grafting wood, decrease the excessive vigor 
of vine through choice of proper stocks, by summer-top and win- 
ter-root pruning; make it drouth-enduring, by giving it a hardier, 
more penetrating root and by diminishing its foliage somewhat, 
where this is excessive. It is possible that in course of time graft- 
ing-stocks will be found, which will make any other preventive 
method, excepting the selection of healthy scions, unnecessary. 
Where plenty of water is available, proper irrigation alone is suffi- 
cient to prevent the disease. 

All preventive methods should be commenced in time. No 
diseased vine can be cured permanently ; even a vine, which has 
developed a strong predisposition to the disease is difficult to save, 
unless a copious water supply for irrigation is at hand. 

9. Method. Spraying the Vines. 

In places where the conditions for the development of the dis- 
ease are known to be very favorable and the two first mentioned 
preventive measures have been neglected, or in order to save vines 
which are very susceptible to the disease and show signs of weak- 
ening, another preventive may be employed or rather experimented 
with, viz: Spraying the vines with some liquid, preferably of a 
whitish color, which covering part of the leaves would prevent ex- 
cessive evaporation of moisture and sap. In an experimental way 
I have found spraying with the Bordeaux mixture right after top- 
ping of the vines quite effective in this regard, but a cheaper spray 
may be just as beneficial. Some wild plants and shrubs with shiny, 
glossy leaves, which in spite of shallow roots and large tops or 
standing on solid beds of clay, are exceedingly drouth-enduring, 
have come to my notice. This glossy appearance of the leaves, 
which is most intense, the hotter the sun is, is undoubtedly caused 
by the exudation of a gummy matter covering the leaves and pre- 
venting a too rapid escape of moisture. The upper surface of the 
leaves of Lenoir, Champini, Berlandieri and others presents a sim- 
ilar appearance. Some species and varieties of Vitis, which are 
known to be very hardy, but which do not possess glossy leaves, 
undoubtedly have a drouth-resistant power in their foliage of 
some other character. It is also possible that with some vines 
such hardiness rests altogether in the peculiar structure of their 
leaves and none in their roots, but the success that has been ob- 
tained with Lenoir and Champini, points in the direction, where to 
g^t our grafting stocks. 

As an example of the anomaly, just mentioned, I may name 
the Rupestris St. George, which seems to be much hardier before 
than after grafting. Its strength lies in its top and its weakness in 
its roots in spite of their great penetrating power. The weakness 
of the Viniferas is in their foliage and their strength in their roots 
at least in this respect. If we could create a Phylloxera-resistant 
stock with the large and spreading roots of a Tokay, for instance, 
but much hardier, we should have a valuable grafting stock. For 
this reason the Lenoir, which has hardy thick roots and is a Vini- 
fera-American hybrid, comes nearer being as ideal a grafting stock, 



20 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

at least for rich soils, as anything we have at present, if it only 
had a higher resistance against the Phylloxera. It is not adapted 
to poor gravelly soils as the Champini is. On account of its Rupest- 
lis strain, this latter hybrid probably would be entirely safe only 
on somewhat deep, well-drained gravelly soils, including poor grav- 
elly clays and loams. It is very hardy on such soils in my own 
locality and vines bear heavily on it. A mistake has been made in 
the Santa Clara valley undoubtedly in the use of unsound grafting 
wood and in planting it mostly on very compact soils, to which it is 
not adapted. The Champinis occur wild mostly on soils similar to 
those on which the wild Rupestris grow, but richer and in a drier 
region and on much drier ground. A vine growing wild on a rich 
soil, even if this is gravelly and mixed with small rocks, has a 
greater range of adaptation to moisture changes than a vine occur- 
ring on such soils which are almost devoid of humus and fine earth. 

Aside from the hardiness of its roots the Lenoir has the ideal 
form of root-system for rich, heavy soils, which hold excessive 
moisture during spring and are apt to become dry later, in extend- 
ing its main roots horizontally under the surface and its strong, 
penetrating laterals down vertically to a great depth. 

The resistance-coefficient of Lenoir is 12 and that of Champini 
14, which have not been found adequate under the climatic condi- 
tions of France. Which is the minimum resistance absolutely 
safe under California conditions is still an open question. It is 
known that Viniferas do not succumb as quickly here from the at- 
tacks of the Phylloxera as they do in France, which may be ex- 
plained by the fact, that decay of the roots, which causes the death 
of the vines, does not pr.oceed as rapidly in our soils during the 
summer, as it does in countries with summer rains. 

At what degree of resistance a vine is immune from an injury 
to its roots by the Phylloxera in California, is a point which should 
command thorough investigation in the near future as a matter of 
the greatest importance. A stock with a somewhat low resistance 
but a good adaptation to existing soil conditions, is much safer 
than one with a high resistance against the Phylloxera, but without 
the adaptation. Our past experience has shown, that this latter 
is as important (if not more so) as the Phylloxera question, in fact 
that the solution of one is valueless without the mastering of the 
other. The Lenoir and the Champini are the safest known at pres- 
ent for lands which cannot be properly irrigated and such soils as 
have been designated for them in this treatise. The former is prob- 
ably the best for table grapes and other heavy-bearing Viniferas 
on any kind of land excepting the very poorest. Anybody desiring 
to make plantings immediately should commence with these, but 
at the same time try some of the other hybrids of the four hardv 
species, and if some of them which have a higher resistance against 
Phylloxera are found to be equally as good in regafd to adaptation 
to the existing soil conditions, these should be preferred for later 
planting. What relation the nature of a soil has to the hardiness 
of a vine can be seen most anywhere. In my own localitv on a 
rich, deep, sandy or clayey loam the Cornichon is very hardv and 



Spraying the Vines 



21 



the Tokay and Verdel are an easy prey to the disease, while on a 
gravelly clay of medium quality the first named succumbs easily 
and the other two vines are very hardy. In a somewhat rich, stiff 
clay on my own place the Verdel is hardier than the Tokay, while 
on a poor gravelly clay the latter is the hardiest. If there is so 
much difference between varieties of the same species, it can easily 
be seen, that a single resistant, that will do better than any other on 
any kind of soil or in any locality, will never be found. It will al- 
ways be necessary to employ different ones to get best results, es- 
pecially in mountain districts where soils vary so much. 

Figure I as given below shows the range of adaptation of 
different species and of the two hybrids Lenor and Champini, 
ungrafted, in regard to moisture changes in the soil. Grafted to 
Viniferas it would become less, excepting Riparia, which probably 
has a less drouth-resistant foliage than the Viniferas, as it occurs 
wild only in cool places in the shade of trees, but even this would 
become somewhat weakened after grafting on account of lack of 
sufficient affinity (similar to Rupestris) and the heavy bearing of 
the Vinifera-top. 



Fig. i. 



Dry 



Slightly 

Moist 



Moist 



Extremely 
Moist 



Wet 



\ 


S 
> 


\ 


> 




\ 


'*■ 




>— 


> 

) 










\ 


/ 


> 



























> — < 








y 


) 


/ 


> 



Berlandieri 
Candicans 
> Californica 
Riparia 

Rupertris 
Champini 
Vinifera 
Lenoir 
Cordifolia 
vCinerea 



Of course the lines in the diagram show the range of adapta- 
tion only comparatively and approximately, as exactness would be 
difficult. Not only the inherent adaptability of the stocks will have 
to be considered, but also the form of root system, depth and nature 



22 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 



of soil, etc. For instance in deep wet loams and clays or soils with 
groundwater a few feet below the surface a Vinifera may do very 
well, but a Champini sending down its vertical main roots into very 
wet soil or water would not succeed. A hybrid having a great 
drouth-enduring capacity but shallow roots would fail in a deep 
coarse gravel, where a Champini may prove successful. Even a 
Rupestris St. George may do as well as a Vinifera in such soil, as 
it has the advantage over the latter in its deep vertical roots, al- 
though less range of adaptation. But it is always safest, if a stock 
is chosen, which has adaptation to spare for a certain soil, than if 
it is deficient or doubtful. It can also be seen from the diagram 
that an improvement is possible on our two best known grafting 
stocks, the Lenoir and the Champini. By hybridizing a Cinerea 
or Cordifolia with a Candicans or Berlandieri and the progeny 
again with a Vinifera or Californica, a hybrid may result having 
a greater range of adaptation than the best we have at present. 

Fig. 2 



Dry . . 




Slightly 

Moist 


P 


Moist . . 








Extremely 
Moist 
















Wet . . 

















V —'Shallow, poor gravelly clays 






-{ 

-{ 



Deep, poor, brittle gravelly 
clays, mixed with broken 
sand rock. 

Deep, coarse gravels in val- 
leys 

Deep, loose gravelly soils on 
hillsides in Coast Moun- 
tains 

Rich gravelly clays 



Rich sandy loams 



Clay loams 



Clays 



\ 



Extremely heavy clays and 
adobes 



Fig. II shows the changes from wet to dry as they occur in 
the different soils of vineyards in the coast regions of northern 
California, or may occur, if land is not carefully cultivated or rain- 
fall is insufficient or vines have excessive foliage. This also is given 
only approximately and comparatively, as there are a thousand dif- 
ferent combinations in the physical structure of our varied soils, 
according to depth, admixture of humus, clay or other binding 
material, broken sandrock, clayrock or granite, gravel or sand, etc., 



Soils Adapted to Grape Culture 23 

which all have a greater or less influence on their capacity of hold- 
ing moisture in the spring and of retaining it through the summer. 
The more compact a soil is or if it is gravelly, the more fine earth 
or clay is mixed with the gravel, the greater are apt to be the mois- 
ture changes. In localities where the rainfall is scant, heavy clays 
and loams may not be very wet during spring, or may be so onh 
within a few feet of the surface, while below this they are com- 
paratively dry. The great value of a vine, extending its main 
roots horizontally under the surface, as the Lenoir does, is appar- 
ent for such soils. From what has been said on the condition of 
soils, on which wild species are found or on which cultivated vari- 
eties have proved successful, it can be deduced that adaptation is 
principally governed by the moisture changes occurring in the soil 
and conditioned by the physical structure of the iatter, by climate 
and cultivation. For this reason, adaptation, as taught by French 
experts, has not realized for California, as moisture changes in 
soils of the same physical structure are much greater with us than 
they are in France. 

As the planting of resistant direct bearers which undoubtedly 
would avoid the trouble altogether, has been recommended dv 
some, I shall say, that there is no vine of American origin at pres- 
ent, which approaches in the least degree the peciJess qualities of 
the Viniferas. Even with twice the expense of growing these, which 
indeed is not necessary, they will pay much better than any bear- 
ing resistant. For this reason no effort should be spared to re- 
tain them in localities where the disease has occurred w ; tb great- 
est severitv, but which was caused mainly through 'gnoranee of its 
true character. 

CHAPTER III. 
Soils, Adapted to Grape Culture and Preparatory Work for 

Planting. 

There are a great variety of soils in California and most any of 
them, excepting rich bottom lands near the coast or other parts of 
too moist arxf] cold atmospheric conditions, or where groundwater 
is too near the surface, can Be planted to the grape vine provided 
the peculiar habits of the different varieties and grafting-^ treks 
are understood and the proper ones chosen. In this respect a good 
many mistakes have been made in the past and some losses of 
money incurred. In particular it may be said that brittle gravelh 
clays of a reddish or brownish color mixed with broken sandrock 
and situated on warm sloping hillsides, are the very best, as they 
produce the highest quality of wine and table grapes, which is the 
desideratum desired. 

In regions near the coast shallow soils, on which the grapes 
ripen better and whose impoverishment and drying" out can be pre- 
vented by plowing under plenty of green manure, which is gener- 
ally abundant, are better than deep, rich ones. Lands being covered 
with small brush as manzanitas, dwarf-oaks and other shrubs, 
when in their wild state, is in such localities indicative of their 
adaptation to grape culture. Where large trees are growing, the 



24 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

soil is generally too rich and deep to be available for this pur- 
pose, at least the services of an expert would be required to avoid 
mistakes in the choice of varieties. In the more interior locations 
a deeper soil is necessary, to maintain the vine properly and pro- 
duce a good quality of fruit. Clays generally produce a higher 
sugar and firmer grapes than rich sandy loams. 

In the preparation of the soil for vine planting, California 
methods have in the past been so slack that great losses of money 
or, as in some cases, even bankruptcy have been the consequence, 
especially where vineyards were planted on steep hillsides of poor 
gravelly soil. I shall not repeat anything here, that has been said 
on tnis subject in the chapter on preventive methods of the Califor- 
nia vine disease, but shall only make a few completing remarks 
with reference to mountain regions. Where vineyards have been 
planted on hillsides, the neglect of properly securing the natural 
richness of the surface of virgin soils, in preventing its washing by 
winter rains or loss of organic matter through combustion by the 
summer's heat, will make itself felt with greatest severity, when 
these vineyards will have to be replanted on account of the de- 
structive work of the Phylloxera. The only way such lands could 
have been remunerative would have been to plow or dig trenches 
about 3 feet deep and 2 wide horizontally along the slops and filling 
them up with humus earth from above. Vines planted in such 
trenches would have produced from 7 to 10 tons p a r ace, where 
they yield o;>.'y 2 or 3 tons by the go-as-you-please method. 

The grape vine is the most grateful cultivated plant we have. 
Treat it well and intelligently and it will pay you back abundantly. 
It is better to have 5 acres producing 35 tons of grapes, than 50 
acres producing only 100 tons, especially when grapes are cheap. 
The five-acre vineyard would have paid enough profits to set out 
an acre or two more every year, as described above, while the fifty- 
acre one depleted your pocket book in the first place and kept you 
poor afterwards, all the income from it being required to pay 
Asiatic labor, as has been the case in a good many instances. 

In reconstituting vineyards destroyed by the Phylloxera or 
from any other cause, on resistant stocks in places where the land 
has been under cultivation for 10, 15 or more years, the work be- 
comes much more difficult. It is best to work over all lands that 
will wash or slide from winter rains by trenching as described, in- 
stead of turning the whole of the ground over 20 inches or two feet 
The better portions should be commenced with and the poorer and 
steeper ones left for four or five years, to cover themselves with 
natural vegetation, if this will grow; if not, some cultivated plants 
which are valuable for green manuring, should be sowed and as- 
sisted by cultivation. If leguminous plants will not succeed, any- 
thing that will grow is better than nothing. 

As has been stated, when doing such work, if the surface soil 
is devoid of humus, do not forget to put plenty of organic matter 
in the form of brush, dead primings and vines, straw, stable and 
green manure into the trenches. The first named should be piu 
in the bottom and the last named about 18 inches below the sur- 



Choice of Varieties of Grapes 25 

face ; it is plain that fine earth should be well filled in around such 
material and also that this should not be excessive. There is no 
danger of souring the ground easily in a California vineyard, as sim- 
ilar work is done in European countries, where decay on account of 
summer rains goes on much quicker. A grapevine is not easily 
affected by decaying organic substances in the soil, at least not the 
right kind of a grafting stock. Humus is most important as no soil 
is productive without it, however rich in mineral ingredients it may 
be. It is almost an impossibility in California to cause any material 
benefit to deep-rooting perennial plants, by simply plowing under 
organic manures, not considering the great loss through combus- 
tion by the sun's heat. The benefit derived is generally of a physi- 
cal nature only, in that compact soils are made more mellow and 
coarse gravelly ones denser and closer, and so both kinds more 
retentive in holding moisture. Of course this is very important. 

It might be claimed that such work does not pay in California 
on account of high wages paid for labor. But considering that we 
need not plant our vines three or four feet apart in order to get them 
to ripen their fruit uniformly, it will not cost as much as work con- 
ducted on such a plan in European countries. A little more re- 
course to old world methods, seasoned clown with a touch of Amer- 
ican ingenuity in the use of proper implements, will make grape - 
culture the most remunerative pursuit in the State. 

The next best way to the above-described method would be to 
dig deep and wide holes and then put a good amount of stable man- 
ure, coarse or rotted, in their bottoms. This will enable the young 
vine to get a quick start and get its roots down deep, so it does 
not suffer from want of moisture and nourishment. 

When it becomes necessary later, commercial mineral manures 
can be applied by plowing under. As a rule such manures are 
necessary in California only when the vines become old, provided 
the land is worked over before planting, as described, and plowed 
deeply afterwards, as according to Prof. Hilgard's investigations, 
our soils are generally very rich in such ingredients to a great 
depth, on account of absence of summer rains and so of leaching 
of their valuable portions. 

Stable manures intended for vineyard use should be kept dry 
and piled up loosely under a shed, to prevent the formation and 
escape of carbonate of ammonia. Mixing with land plaster or 
humus earth, or sprinkling with diluted sulphuric acid, will assist 
in this. It should not be left undisturbed very long but worked 
over occasionally. If it dry-burns, which means the formation of 
nitric acid, which is very volatile, the loss is still greater. In the 
winter it is safest to haul it right on to the land, wriere it is intended 
to go. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Choice of Varieties of Grapes. 

This has been one of the most difficult problems confronting 
the vine-grower in the past, and has led to numerous mistakes and 



26 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

losses of money. The difficulty was greatly augmented by the 
passing under wrong and several names of some of our best vari- 
eties, which would have come undoubtedly sooner to greater prom- 
inence, if this had not been the case. Also giving wines of poor- 
grade varieties fine-sounding names, in order to enhance their 
salableness, as is sometimes imagined, is a reprehensible practice, 
which can only do harm. Some 30 or 40 years ago, when grape- 
culture took the form of a more general occupation, a great mis- 
take was made in presuming that the most famous wine-grape vari- 
eties of Europe would also make the best wines in most any local- 
ity of California. Although our climatic conditions are not so 
varied as those of European countries where grape-culture is prac- 
ticed, the fact has made itself felt, that it requires different varieties 
for the different localities to produce best quality and largest quan- 
tity, not considering our manifold soil conditions. Our past experi- 
ence in this line will be of incalculable benefit to us, as the rehab- 
ilitation of our vineyards on resistant stocks is somewhat more 
expensive, and mistakes made now will be felt with much greater 
severity than in former times. Without fear of contradiction, I 
shall say that the highest quality, combined with from fair to good 
quantity should be the most desired aim in viticultural pursuits. 
To gain this object is not a difficult task at present, as we have 
it in our hand with the proper selection of resistant grafting stocks, 
to make choice varieties like the Petite Sirah, Beclan, Cabernet, 
Sauvignon blanc and Red Veltliner bear much heavier crops than 
they do on their own roots. 

As the planting of white-wine varieties has been neglected in 
late years and less localities are adapted to the production of first- 
class white than of red wines, all lands well suited to them, should 
be used for this purpose. All poor gravelly or sandy soils of the 
coast mountain regions of northern California, excepting those in 
very close proximity of the coast or where for other reasons too 
moist atmospheric conditions prevail, where the more-rot-resistant 
red varieties like Beclan. Cabernet, Tannat and Petite Sirah are 
preferable, are best for white grapes, especially the early kinds 
as Red Veltliner, Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Johannisberg and 
Franken Reisling. In more interior points where the acid of most 
of these would be too low for a sound fermentation, other kinds 
are probably better. In such places even richer soils may be used 
for the planting of white varieties. All rich lands, especially in the 
coast region, are best for the growing of red grapes. Some excep- 
tions will be found to these rules and past experience where such 
is at hand, is the best guide in this respect. 

Dry wine varieties with a high acid in their fruit like Alicante 
Bouschet, Gros Aoansene and all Italian varieties, are best 
adapted to warm interior points, as also the Valdepe- 
nas, which in spite of a comparatively low acid has the ex- 
ceptional quality of a perfect fermentation, while varieties with 
medium to low acid like the Beclan, Cabernet, Tannat and Petite 
Sirah are better for the cooler coast regions. Such latter vari- 



Choice of Varieties of Grapes 27 

eties with proper blends may be turned into good wines even in 
the warmer localities, as also varieties with a high acid may be val- 
uable in small quantities for blending purposes in the cooler re- 
gions. 

High tartaric acid contents of a grape in the fermenting tank 
especially during hot weather, are conducive of a sound ferment- 
ation in checking the development of secondary, injurious fer- 
ments, but give a wine a harsh, rough taste if too much is present. 
First-class white wine should contain about .06 per cent and red 
wines about .05 per cent of tartaric acid, or rather, bitartrate of 
potash (cream of tartar) as which it occurs in wines. Free tartaric 
acid is generally not present, except where unripe grapes went into 
the fermenting tank; wines made thus have a very harsh flavor. A 
wine fermenting its sugar contents out is not proof that the fer- 
mentation has been conducted properly. Low-acid grapes like 
Pinot, Meunier, Franken Riesling and Grenache, although they may 
apparently go through fermentation all right, favor the development 
of injurious bacteria, as acetic, lactic and tartaric, which cause, com- 
mencing generally during the after-fermentation, a steady increase 
of the general acid contents of the wine and finally spoil it. If the 
fermentation took place during cold weather in a well-protected cel- 
lar of an even temperature, such a condition need not be feared so 
much as if it occurred during hot weather. 

For this reason all best dry wines are made in cool countries 
of grapes with a comparatively low or medium acid, which leaves 
the wine with a smoother, pleasanter taste. In hot countries like 
Italy, grapes must contain a high acid, besides high contents or 
sugar, body and tannin, in order to give the wine a sound fermenta- 
tion and good keeping qualities. Such obstacles have been over- 
come at the present day, at least to some extent, with modern meth- 
ods of pasteurization and filtration. Thin wines are also very much 
subject to injury from secondary ferments ; such wines should be 
pasteurized. 

Red wines intended for export or eastern shipments should con- 
tain a higher percentage of tannin than would be palatable for im- 
mediate or home consumption. The superfluous tannin will pre- 
cipitate through the shaking of the wine in the casks, while in tran- 
sit, and at the same time keep it in good condition and improve it. 
While the wine remains in the cellar its development is accelerated 
by a moderate amount of tannin and retarded by an excess of it. 
The best tannin and color grape for California is the Tannat, with 
the Alicante Bouschet for second place. Other varieties like Caber- 
net, Petite Sirah, St. Macaine, Mondeuse and Valdepenas contain 
good contents of tannin, in most localities enough for their own 
safety. 

The above remarks are not made to give any information con- 
cerning winemaking, but to assist in the selection of proper varieties 
for a particular locality and in regard to the purpose for which 
grapes are wanted. 



28 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 



White-Wine Varieties for the Coast Region of Northern California. 

Red Veltliner — Description: Vine very vigorous, with strong 
spreading canes. Leaves large, deeply five-lobed, dark green and 
rough above, lower side white woolly during forepart of summer. 
Bunch medium, somewhat loose, pyramidal, with from small to 
medium-sized pink-colored berries. 

This variety has originally come from Austria, where it is es- 
teemed, according to Babo and Mach, on account of the superiority 
of its wine and good bearing qualities. From there it has been 
brought into Germany, where it is grown to a small extent and 
known among common vineyardists as the large Traminer, because 
its grapes have the same pink color as those of the Traminer. For 
this reason it occurs in California also under both names ; but the 
same color of the grapes of two varieties is no mark of relationship, 
nor is a different color a good mark of non-relationship. If the above 
description is compared with that of the Traminer by Prof. Hilgard 
in his report on winegrapes, the great difference between the two 
vines can easily be seen. The Traminer has no value for California, 
as it is a shy bearer and produces a wine of poor keeping qualities. 
Some Veltliner wine made in this locality (Santa Cruz Mountains) 
from grapes grown on a poor gravelly soil by inexperienced wine- 
makers and sold to an eastern dealer, has brought 30 and 40c a gal- 
lon, when other wines did not bring one-half of that amount. A 
blend of two-fifths Veltliner, two-fifths Franken Riesling and one- 
fifth Johannisberg Riesling produces a wine of first-class quality. 
This grape has a great value for the coast region, as it resists rot 
better than any other early white-wine grape with long horizontal 
canes, and bears heavily on all gravelly soils. In more interior places 
it probablv needs an addition of. some other more acid variety, like 
the Sauvignon blanc, in order to produce a wine of good keeping 
qualities. 

Sauvignon blanc. This is a somewhat shy bearer on its own 
roots, but does better on resistants. It is confounded in this locality 
a good deal with the Muscadelle du Bordelais, which it resembles 
very much in the appearance of the vine as well as the fruit. But 
while the Muscadelle generally drops its fruit by coulure two sea- 
sons out of three, the Sauvignon blanc very seldom does, where it 
stands on a soil of medium or good quality. This grape probably 
has a greater general adaptation than any other Vinifera variety, 
as it holds its acid well even in hot interior valleys. Its wine in 
itself is somewhat rough, but is very valuable as a blend with wines 
of less quality and lower acid and sugar. The vine is about as 
nearly frost-proof as any variety can be, as it starts its growth very 
late in tin- spring. It requires long horizontal canes to bear well. 

Semillon. Tbis has been the favorite white-wine variety in 
California and is therefore so well known, that it is not necessary 
to mention any of its characteristics. It is extremely liable to get 
damaged by late spring frosts, as it starts its growth very early. Its 
behavior on resistants. at least Riparia and Rupestris, is far from 



Red Wine Grapes 29 

being satisfactory, but it may do better on some hardy Vinifera- 
American hybrid. 

Riesling- Johannisberg. This is rather a shy bearer, and easily 
fiosted in the spring. On a poor gravelly soil in the Santa Cruz 
mountains it bears fairly well and makes a wine of fine quality. 
This as well as any other Vinifera variety will undoubtedly do much 
better on some hardy resistant than on Riparia or Rupestris or even 
its own roots. 

Sylvaner or Franken Riesling. This is an immense bearer in 
this locality, if pruned with long horizontal canes, but should be 
planted only on dry gravelly soils, as its grapes are much subject 
to rot. Its wine by itself is not best quality, but a good wine can 
be made of it, by blending in the fermenting tank with the Johannis- 
berg Riseling or Sauvignon blanc and in some places even with the 
Red Veltliner. It starts growth late in the spring and is seldom 
hurt by frost. 

Pinot Chardonay, from which the celebrated Chablis wines are 
made in France. There are only a few vines of this variety planted 
here, but which give promise of its value as a good bearer. 

Sauvignon vert. This is similar to the Franken Riseling, an 
immense bearer, and its fruitfulness is not impaired by frost, as it 
bears on canes from adventitious shoots, if its first growth is cut 
down. It should also be planted on dry gravelly soils only, as on 
rich ground it has not sufficient sugar and makes then a thin in- 
sipid wine. For some more interior places, like Napa county, a 
greater value is claimed for it. It does well on resistants. 

Green Hungarian. On dry gravelly soils with warm exposure 
this makes a good, light, neutral wine, but does not ripen early 
enough to be adapted to many coast locations. Different from the 
other varieties mentioned, it can be stool-pruned and somewhat 
short. It bears heavily. 

Red Wine Grapes. 

Petite Sirah. This and the Serine resemble one another some- 
what, but have undoubtedly originated from two different seed- 
lings, as the difference between the two varieties is too great to be 
explainable any other way. The leaf of the Petite Sirah is somewhat 
more deeply lobed and of a deeper green color than that of the 
Serine. The first-named starts its growth later in the spring and its 
leaves hang on later in the fall. It has also a larger bunch and sets 
fruit much more profusely. 

As the Petite Sirah occurs here, there is another variety mixed 
with it, which has a small, generally loose bunch and large leaves, 
covered with a heavy, cottony down on the lower surface. Thib 
variety is worthless. The Petite Sirah is a most valuable grape, as 
it bears heavily and produces one of the best red wines in the state. 
It does exceedingly well on all kinds of resistants. I have been 
told lately that it is the same grape, that was known in former years 
as Pfeffer's Cabernet. 



30 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

Beclan. This is probably the best grape for rich land, whether 
sandy or clayey, in the coast region. It grows, bears and ripens its 
fruit earl)', similarly to the foregoing. It also does well on resist- 
ants and makes a fine wine, which has great value as a blend with 
Cabernet. 

Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a shy bearer on its own roots, 
but does better on resistants. It is the most rot-resistant grape we 
have and is therefore valuable in places with moist atmospheric 
conditions. It requires long horizontal canes to bear well. 

Tannat. This is also very resistant against rot and an im- 
mense bearer. Its value as a tannin and color grape has been 
stated. There are two varieties of it as it occurs here, which are 
called in France T. male and T. femelle. The leaf of one is not quite 
so deeply lobed as that of the other and its bunch not quite as large, 
but closer; it is the better bearer of the two, but also more subject 
to the California vine disease. It does poorly on Rupestris St. 
George (the same as all other varieties on this stock) but bears im- 
mensely on Riparia. 

Alicante Bouschet. This occurs a good deal under the name of 
Petit Bouschet, which is giving a bad name to a good grape, as the 
latter is a much inferior variety. The former can be easily dis- 
tinguished from the latter by its leaves, which are shiny on the up- 
per side, with the edges turned back. The Petit Bouschet has 
flat and more downy leaves. The Alicante Bouschet is an immense 
bearer, but it is reported from France as not doing well on resist- 
ants, but will probably behave more satisfactorily on some hardy 
Vinifera-American hybrid. 

Carignan. This is so well known, that it is not necessary to 
mention its good qualities. It ripens later than the other red vari- 
eties mentioned and does best on clays. It behaves well on resist- 
ants. 

Mondeuse. This makes a good wine and bears well in some 
places, but in others its behavior is not so good in either respect. 
It does not seem to do well on pure American stocks. The Mon- 
deuse and the Carignan are the two best of the ordinary varieties. 

Valdepenas. This is best adapted to warm interior localities. 
It has the reputation of fermenting high sugar contents out with- 
out any trouble and makes a very superior wine. 

Table Grapes. 

Flame Tokay. This is the most prominent table variety, as it 
bears heavily and its fruit brings the highest price in the markets, 
provided it is of good quality. To produce such is sometimes diffi- 
cult, as not all soils and locations will do this. It requires for its 
perfect development a somewhat dry atmosphere; where this is 
heavy and moist from ocean winds, it is not of a marketable char- 
acter. In regard to soil it is best on a poor gravelly clay of a red- 
dish or brown color; if the soil is rich, it should not be deep. 

If the vine is planted on rich ground, where it does not ripen 
its fruit well, it should be trained to a high, large, spreading head 



Pruning, Grafting and Budding 31 

and pruned with a great number of canes of two and three buds. 
Its young growing shoots will be shorter and more upright then, 
its bunches smaller and looser and in consequence its berries more 
evenly ripened and better colored. On very poor soils it should be 
trained to a lower and closer head with fewer fruit canes. 

Verdel. This produces its best product on a gravelly clay of 
medium quality. On such a soil its fruit keeps longer and better 
than that of any other variety. In the Santa Cruz mountains it is 
generally one of the best paying varieties grown, as it bears im- 
mense and regular crops. Where the ground is too rich for a per- 
fect product, the quality and sugar contents of this can be im- 
proved by a similar mode of pruning as that recommended for the 
Tokay, but not quite so many canes need be left. It should only be 
planted in places well protected from the north winds, as its young 
canes in the spring break off very easily and its fruit is also dam- 
aged quite often if vines are standing in an unprotected place. 

Cornichon. This is the best table grape variety for rich 
ground, especially a sandy loam. It is trained and pruned in all 
kinds of manners, from a somewhat low and close head with few 
half-long canes for poor ground to a high spreading head with nu- 
merous short canes of three buds for very rich ground. For soils of 
medium quality the best way of pruning is intermediate between 
the two extremes described. It is a favorite grape for attack from 
small birds, which bore holes into the ends of the berries and 
sometimes cause ruin to a whole field. The shotgun remedy is the 
best means of protection, as the birds generally are intelligent 
enough to learn that it is best to stay away. 

Emperor. This is a very fine, although thick-skinned grape, 
of good marketable and keeping qualities. It requires also a soil of 
good or medium quality with warm exposure, and is pruned simi- 
lar to the foregoing. No first-class table grapes can be grown by any 
other system than head pruning. Excessive vigor of a vine can be 
overcome with a high spreading head and more fruit spurs, as well 
as with pruning by the Guyot system or extension to one side. 

Muscat of Alexandria. This is coming into disfavor somewhat 
in the coast region on account of its susceptibility to the California 
vine disease and the easy rotting of its fruit, if caught by the early 
fall rains. It should be planted only on such soils where it will 
ripen its fruit early. Its liableness to coulure can be corrected by 
pruning to three buds, canes extending upwards at an angle of 
about 30 or 40 degrees, with a close head and few fruit canes, if on 
poor ground and by careful suckering several times before the 
bloom. The Muscat is a very sensitive vine; too much or too little 
vigor, too much moisture in the ground or too little, as also a strong 
north wind may cause coulure. 

CHAPTER V. 
Pruning, Grafting and Budding. 
1. Pruning. There are numerous systems of pruning practiced 



32 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

wherever the grape vine is grown. In general it may be said, that 
the pruning must conform to the variety of grape, to the vigor and 
size of the vine, to climatic and atmospheric conditions of the lo- 
cality and to the demands of the market for the fruit. There are 
some minor considerations, but I believe these are the principal 
ones. 

The quantity and quality of the crop is very much influenced 
by the nature of the soil. On account of this a vine may have too 
much or too little vigor, to bear properly. To maintain the proper 
equilibrium between crop and woodgrowth, should be one of the 
objects of pruning. The vigor of a vine can be lessened with higher 
training, more spreading head and more numerous or longer fruit 
canes. It can be increased by reversed methods from the above. 
It is always best, especially on virgin soil, to start with a lower head 
than appears necessary at the time for the production of greatest 
quantity and best quality. A vine can be much more easily raised 
np higher with short upright spurs, than lowered if it has been 
raised up too high in the first place. In general, not enough differ 
ence is made in the winter pruning of large vines and small ones, a? 
also in their training to a higher or lower head according to the 
richness of the ground. Training a vine to a high and spreading 
head on a poor soil, takes all its resources to nourish this, without it 
being able to bear. On the other hand, where a vine has been 
trained to a low head on rich ground, the woodgrowth is so im- 
mense, that it robs the sap, which should properly go into fruit. 
This is more pronounced with some varieties than with others. The 
same may be said of the manner, heads of vines are spread, more 
or less. It is much better for the health and longevity of a vine. 
if it has a little too much vigor and less fruit, than the reverse. 

Excessive moisture as well as extreme dryness during the 
time of development and ripening of the fruit may postpone its 
maturing or cause inferiority of the same. The first generally does 
not occur in California, except during the forepart of the season. 
when it does its harm in causing unnecessary woodgrowth. injuri- 
ous to the proper development of the fruit and the healthfulness 
of the vine. For this reason, vines on poor gravelly hillsides in 
mountain districts, where they do not grow excessively on account 
of the poorness of the soil and in consequence later on do not suf- 
fer for want of moisture, produce the firmest, sweetest and a good 
many times the largest berries. Where vines are growing on rich 
ground, heavily charged with moisture during spring, their am- 
bition should be curbed by vigorous summer pruning as described 
in Chapter II. 

Too much old wood may prevent a vine from doing its best. 
The arms of a vine should be renewed occasionally. The smaller 
ones may be cut near the main body, but the large ones should 
not be cut nearer than six inches from the trunk and should al- 
ways have one or two canes of young growth at their extremity. 
Large cut surfaces should be painted over. 

Excessive crops may retard the maturing and the formation 
of the necessary sugar contents of the fruit. Large trees standing 



Pruning, Grafting and Budding 33 

near vines, robbing the ground of moisture, when the latter are in 
great need of it, also prevents proper development of the sugar 
contents of the fruit. The sugar is highest, if vines on rich ground 
are trained to a high spreading head and pruned with numerous 
short fruit spurs and on poor ground to a low and close head with 
few canes. On intermediate soils the pruning and training should 
be between the two extremes. 

Head or stool pruning is best adapted to California condi- 
tions, as the ground can be more carefully worked and its moisture 
contents better regulated. Varieties like Petite Sirah, Alicante 
Bouschet, Beclan and others will bear just as well and more reg- 
ularly by head-training and pruning to 4 or 5 buds, or even less in 
some places, than by leaving long horizontal canes. It is best to 
put varieties like Riesling, Cabernet, Sauvignon blanc, Semillan, 
etc., which do not bear except with very long canes, horizontally 
placed, on gravelly, loose soils, which are not so subject to drying 
out and can be more easily worked ; or they may be put on steep 
hillsides, which can be conveniently worked only in one direction. 
If the soil is very poor, it is best to train any of the varieties men- 
tioned to a very low head, leave only one long cane and bend it 
around in a bow, the tip end almost touching the ground, or thib 
can be run into the ground 5 or 6 inches and the bow above tied to a 
picket. This also gives the vine more stability against strong 
winds. 

2. Grafting. According to the size of the stocks there are 
two principal methods of grafting, the common cleft graft and the 
English cleft or tongue graft. Instead of the former, if stocks are 
of sufficient size, the saw-in method, as I generally call it, may be 
practiced. This mode of grafting is done by cutting across the 
edge of the stump with a California pruning saw. The cut is 
trimmed out on the sides with a sharp pruning or budding knife. 
A shoemaker's leather knife, which has a narrow, thin blade and is 
made of good material, is very handy for this purpose. The scion 
is shaped by first cutting it in wedge form as in the common cleft 
graft, and then making another slanting cut opposite the bud, from 
the node down to the point, which should have about the thickness 
of the width in the cut of the stock at its lower end. The two edges 
on the cut of the scion are shaved down a little, so they do not 
hinder in making a close fit. The scion is then inserted and driven 
down with a small wooden mallet. It requires a good deal of prac- 
tice to make this graft properly, but if this is acquired, it is quickh 
and effectively done. The wood of the scion should press snugly 
in its full length against the wood of the stock, in order to enable 
the former to draw sap immediately. The inside of the bark of the 
scion should fit against the inside of the bark of the stock in order 
to make proper connection through the callousing of scion and 
stock. 

This graft has the advantage over the common cleft graft in 
that the stock can be cut off just above a node, at which a connec- 
tion is made much more easily than at an internode. If the bud on 
the stock is in a smooth place, it can be cut out with the saw, and 



34 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

the scion inserted in such a place generally grows without failure. 
The slanting cuts on the scion should come up to the bud as near 
as possible, so this rests closely against the stock. This graft can 
be employed on stocks not much more than one-half inch in di- 
ameter. Such small stocks would of course need a ligature. In ty- 
ing grafts interspaces should be left between the windings, to leave 
room for the callous. 

On dry gravelly soils most anything will do for tying material, 
but on wet heavy land bluestoned raffia is the best, in order to pre- 
vent rotting of ligature and also decay of the cut surfaces of both 
scion and stock. Raffia is bluestoned by soaking it in a three per 
cent solution of Milestone (4 ounces in a gallon of water) for 24 
hours ; it is then hung up to dry. Before using it is washed thor- 
oughly in running water, to remove the Milestone from its outside, 
and is then kept moist and ready for use. 

With the suckering of the grafts one should be very careful. 
It is best not to disturb the grafts with the appearance of the first 
suckers, but simply pinch these. After a while the earth may be 
removed from around the grafts and all the suckers cut off, provid- 
ed the scion has made a growth of one foot or more. If this is not 
the case two or three suckers near the top of the stock should be 
left and pinched again. Too severe suckering will easily kill the 
graft or even the vine, as it is apt to cause souring of the sap. 

Along in July or August all the grafts should be carefully ex- 
amined, the tyings and the roots, that have started from the scions 
cut off, and then well mounded up again, as the knitting of the scion 
and the stock goes on better under ground than above. 

Cuttings to be used as scions are best kept in boxes filled with 
sand and placed in a cool place. The sand can be moist when the 
cuttings are first put into it, but gradually as the sand dries out the 
cuttings become "cured" and are then much less subject to drying 
out, if used in the field and the ground should become very dry, 
and also less subject to decay, if the ground should be very wet. 
Cuttings to be used for propagation on their own roots are better 
buried outside in a well drained place of gravelly or sandy soil. 

3. Budding. This has not been given a fair and thorough trial 
in California so far and it is therefore difficult to say at present, 
what can be done in this line. As our atmosphere is much drier 
during the summer than that of France, it probably will need some 
modifications. How to select buds for budding and how to insert 
them, has been well described by Prof. T wight in one of the State 
University bulletins, which is sent to any one who asks for it. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Creation of New Hybrids for Grafting Stocks. 

As has been stated, grafting-stocks of a much greater adapt- 
ability to different soil and climatic conditions than the pure species 
possess, can be obtained by crossing or hybridizing varieties be- 
longing to different species. Crossing and hybridizing do not 
mean exactly the same thing. A hybrid is obtained from a seed, 



POLLENATION BY NATURE'S METHOD 



35 



the ovule of which had been fecundated by the pollen of a variety 
belonging to a different species, while both parent varieties of a 
cross are of the same species. More vigorous and hardier types are 
produced by hybridizing than by crossing; for this reason it is of 
greater value in the creation of new grafting-stocks. 

To make the operation better understood it is necessary first 
to give a short description of the flowers of different seedlings and 
the process of fecundation. There are three kinds of flowers in 
grapes : 




1. The perfect, hermaphrodite, with well developed pistil and 
stamens, capable of self-pollenation, Fig. 1. All Viniferas which 
are cultivated have such flowers. 

2. The practically pistillate flower with perfect pistil, but 
weak recurved stamens, generally incapable of self-pollenation. 
Fig. 2. 

3. The staminate flower, with perfect stamens, but without 
pistil. Fig. 3. Example : Rupestris St. George. 

Only vines with either hermaphrodite or pistillate flowers, pos- 
sessing a perfectly developed pistil, can bear fruit. But in most 
cases the pistil does not develop into a grape, unless one or more of 
its ovules have been fecundated by a pollen grain. 

Pollenation by Nature's Method. 

The pistil of a hermaphrodite flower may be pollenated by the 
pollen of its own anthers, the enlarged upper portion of the stam- 
ens, but with pistillate flowers generally only cross-pollenation is 
efficacious, that is, the pollen must come from a different vine. 
This latter is also with hermaphrodite flowers more effective and 
consequential of better results. It seems to be Nature's preferred 
method in producing new and more vigorous and valuable types in 
plant life. Gentle winds and small winged insects, visiting the 
flowers to gather nectar, are pollen distributors. Whenever a pollen 
grain is deposited on the stigma, the enlarged upper portion of the 
pistil, and this is in its receptive state, which is generally after a 
flower has opened on a warm fair day at about 10 a. m., it begins 
to germinate in the moist, gummy substance and send down its 
threadlike roots in one of the minute tubes of the pistil, penetrating 
the ovule cell-wall and intermingling its substance — protoplasm — 
with the protoplasm of the ovule. The pistil holding such a fructi- 
fied ovule at once begins to enlarge and in time becomes a mature 
grape and the ovules develop seeds within. 

As male vines have not a flower with pistil, it is clear, that 



36 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

they cannot bear, but they are certainly of value or Nature would 
not have developed them. Nature's tendency in its creative de- 
signs for the reproduction of improved forms is apparent and so it 
makes cross-pollenation imperative. Generally the most vigorous 
and enduring offspring is produced by crossing vines with Distillate 
or hermaphrodite flowers with some which have stamLiate flowers. 

How to Hybridize if Parent Vines Bloom at the Same Time. 

This is easiest, if the mother vine has weak recurved stamens. 
The selected mother vine should be in the best of condition, re- 
ceive good care and be irrigated several times during the latter part 
of the summer. As soon as the flower clusters appear and if there 
are very many of them, some should be cut off, so the vine is not 
overburdened. The vine should be noticed daily, until some of the 
buds on the flower-clusters begin to open. These should be clipped 
off then and each cluster, which is to be operated on, enclosed in a 
small sack of tissue paper or close-meshed gauze, so insects cannoi; 
enter. The next day at about 10 a. m., if the weather is warm and 
fair, visit the vine and if some flowers on the enclosed clusters have 
opened, brush over these several times with a newly opened flower- 
cluster, taken from the vine which is intended as male parent, 
knocking off flower-caps and spilling pollen profusely all over the 
cluster. If clusters used for pollenating are plenty, enclose one of 
them in the sack, letting it rest on the cluster to be pollenated until 
the next day, when with fresh clusters the operation is repeated. 
Every day the vine must be visited, the newly opened flowers pol- 
lenated until all the flowers have been operated on. If the clusters 
are very large and close, some of the flowers should be cut out, so 
the young grapes are not overcrowded. All the seeds borne by 
the sacked clusters will be crossed or hybridized by the variety used 
as male parent. 

If this latter vine is growing right next to the vine with reflexed 
stamens, all that is necessary is to train two arms, one of each vine, 
along each other, and then enclose them with a light sheet of cloth 
to keep out insects. Daily shake the arm of the pollenating vine, 
which should be trained above the other, so pollen is spilled all over 
the flower-clusters of the pistillate vine. 

If the mother vine is a variety with hermaphrodite flowers, the 
operation becomes more difficult. In this case at commencement of 
flowering time all the open flowers of the cluster to be operated on, 
are clipped off and then all caps just about ready to shed, are de- 
tached with the point of a needle or pin, the anthers all hooked off 
with a tiny hook, made by bending the point of a pin back at an 
acute angle. The flowers thus prepared are then pollenated as 
previously described. Great care should be taken to prevent pollen- 
ation of the flowers by the pollen of their own anthers. For this 
reason the vine must be visited every day at 9 or 10 a.m., and the 
operation repeated as described. If any flowers are found opened, 
it is best to clip them off, as it is also well to thin out some of the 
buds on very large or close clusters. This facilitates the work and 
causes the remaining ones to set with greater certainty. 



In Reference to Pollen 37 

How to Hybridize Vines Not Blooming at Same Time. 

If the two vines to be crossed do not bloom at the same time, 
then either the blooming of the earlier one must be retarded by cut- 
ting off the first shoots in the spring or by pruning very late, and 
the later one be made to bloom earlier by pruning very early in the 
fall, or by saving pollen from the earlier to apply to the stigma of 
the later. 

How to Gather and Preserve Pollen. 

At blooming time, as soon as most of the flowers have opened, 
gather a supply of flowering clusters and carry them to a light room 
without shaking or jarring. A new clean tin box about 3 inches 
square and one inch deep is a good receptacle to preserve pollen in. 
Take the gathered clusters by the stem and strike them gently into 
the open box several times. Then clip off the open flowers into 
the box, put the lid on and shake the box well, so all the pollen be- 
comes dsilodged from the anthers. Take the lid off again and leave 
the box stand on window sill for 20 or 30 minutes. Put the lid back 
and shake once more, when on opening most of the pollen will be 
seen sticking to the bottom, sides and top of the box. Winnow off 
all the anthers, corollas and other particles, which may have fallen 
into the box. Place the box open now on window sill for one or 
two hours, when the pollen will be dry and in good keeping condi- 
tion. Put on the cover again and paste over the seam a strip of 
paper, to keep out air and small insects. 

How to Apply Preserved Pollen. 

When the flowers, to be operated on, have opened, properly 
prepare them as described and then apply the pollen with a small 
camel's hair or cat's tail hair pencil, moistened in pure water, to the 
stigmas. Carefully sack the clusters after the operation, so insects 
cannot carry in pollen from other vines. 

How to Keep the Seeds. 

As soon as the grapes on the pollenated clusters are fairly ripe, 
they should be gathered, the seeds taken from them and dried in 
a ventilated room. They should then be carefully wrapped and 
kept in a cool, dry place. 

In the above I have followed principally the directions, as given 
by Mr. T. V. Munson of Denison, Texas, the noted originator of 
numerous crosses and hybrids in one of the bulletins of the Texas 
.State Experiment Station. 

Mr. Burbank's Method. 

According to a writer in "The Pacific Tree and Vine," Mr. 
Luther Burbank proceeds in the following manner in creating his 
wonderful fruits and flowers : 

"A supply of the fructifying pollen anthers is carefully gath- 
ered from the desired plant parent, usually the day before it is to be 
used, and carefully dried. When the proper degree of dryness has 
been obtained, the pollen powder is secured by carefully shaking 



38 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

the anthers over a watch crystal, until its surface is dusted with 
pollen. The blooms of the seed parent, that is to receive the pollen, 
have been previously prepared by removing about nine-tenths of 
the bloom buds, when they began to show the petal color. This is 
done for convenience in operating and to avoid overcrowding the 
tree's capacity. Before the petals open, each of these buds is care- 
fully cut into with a small sharp knifeblade in such a way that the 
petals, a part of the sepals and all the attached anthers are removed 
as the knife makes its circuit, leaving the pistils exposed but unin- 
jured by the operation. The removal of the corolla balks the bees 
and other honey-sucking insects, that are pollen distributors. Mr. 
Ijurbank chooses for pollenation the time when the first hum of the 
bees is heard in the trees, as this seems to be Nature's indicator, and 
he finds all conditions then most favorable, and believes the pistil 
is then in its most receptive state. His instrument for pollenation 
is his finger tip, applied first to the dusted surface of the crystal 
until enough pollen adheres, then quickly touched to the pistils of 
the prepared blossoms one after another. These welcome the pollen 
and the fructifying agency begins at once its journey to the ovule. 
No matter what comes now ,the opportunity for outside pollen has 
passed. 

The seeds resulting from cross-pollenation are of course gath- 
ered with great care, seedlings are grown and the closest watch is 
kept upon characteristics and habits from germination onward. 
The little seedling may disclose its combined parentage, or it may 
give sign that it has drawn up something from the profound depths 
of the converging streams of remote ancestry long before reaching 
the blossoming or fruiting stage. These crossbred plants are again 
crossbred, as the purpose of their master indicates, for he always 
works to a definite purpose. And thus the wonderful processes go 
on year after year. Sometimes thousands of specimens have to be 
destroyed, yielding no results." 

Planting the Seed. 

The seed should be prepared about a week before sowing, by 
soaking in hot, but not boiling water for about 2 hours, when the 
cold water is poured off and another application of hot water given 
it for 2 hours more. Then drain the water off and wrap the seed up 
in a piece of course cloth and lay it in the sun during the day, 
moistening the cloth, whenever it becomes dry. In the evening take 
it into a warm room and leave it there during the night. The latter 
part of February is a good time to sow the seed and it generally 
takes from two to three weeks before it germinates. 

The Seed-Bed. 

Select for the seed-bed a piece of warm rich sandy soil, which 
must be worked over deeply with plow or spade and then mad; 
smooth with the rake. Sow in drills about three feet apart and 
about one and a half inches deep. Cover with fine mellow soil 
and smooth over again with rake. The seed-bed must be carefully 



Testing the Seedlings for Resistence, etc. 39 

watched and kept clean from weeds by frequent hoeing and irri- 
gated several times during the summer. 

Testing the Seedlings for Resistance Against the Phylloxera. 

In order not to waste time with vines, not resistant against the 
Phylloxera, especially if a vine has been used as one of the parents, 
which had only a slight resistance or none at all, pieces of roots 
from a Vinifera variety covered with the insects should be buried 
alongside the seedlings in June. Care should be taken, while doing 
this, not to expose the insects to the sun or drying winds as this 
might kill them. A moist sack wrapped around the roots, while 
moving them, will prevent this. 

The seedlings should be watched closely, their roots examined 
at least once a month during the summer and if the Phylloxera is 
found feeding on them to any extent, the vines should be pulled up 
as soon as noticed. The insect will always attack those plants first, 
which have the least resistance in the lot. So if the seed-bed con 
tains vines, having a resistant-coefficient of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, it will 
be found principally on the seedlings having a resistance of 4, and 
very few on any other. As soon as these are destroyed, it will at- 
tack the plants, having a resistance of 6, and so on. Before this 
habit of the insect was known, numerous mistakes were made in 
France, in supposing low-resistant vines immune, which did not 
prove so at all as soon as they were planted by themselves in a field. 
A Lenoir, for instance, is not attacked at all as long as Californicas 
or Viniferas are near, and a Californica appears perfectly immune, 
if healthy Viniferas are growing near it. For this reason it is best 
to leave the young vines in the same place for another year and con- 
tinue the experiment in examining the roots carefully every month 
during the summer and pulling np everything that seems good feed 
for the insect. Along in September of "the second year the roots of 
the remaining seedlings should be carefully examined to see what 
effect, if any, the attacks of the Phylloxera had on them, as no vine 
is entirely free from its presence, however high its resistance. 

At the end of the second year the young hybrids may be taken 
up and then each one of them planted by itself a considerable dis- 
tance from any other low-resistant vines. A good plan to follow is 
to plant about one foot from every one of them a Rupestris St. 
George (16) or a Champini (14) and then bury some phylloxerated 
roots near them. If on examination during summer and fall the 
Phvlloxera has shown a preference for the roots of the seedlings, it 
is plain, that their resistance is not as high as that of the accompany- 
ing vines. If, on the other hand, the insect has preferred the roots 
of the two vines mentioned, it is proof that the resistance of the 
young hybrids is higher than that of the Champini or Rupestris St. 
George. 

On examining the roots of the vines during August, if swellings 
on the small rootlets to any extent or still worse, if any at all on the 
larger roots are observed, the seedlings should be rejected. Accord- 
ing to Prof. Millardet's (of France) resistance scale, if 40 nodosities 



40 How to Make Grape Culture Profitable in California 

(swellings on the small rootlets) on 100 rootlets are present, the re- 
sistance-coefficient of the vine is lfi, the minimum one which is con- 
sidered safe in France in most soils. If more are to be seen, the 
resistance is lower, and if less, higher. If any swellings occur on 
the larger roots (tuberosities), the resistance is below 15, and then 
safe only in exceptional cases. The larger the nodosities and tuber- 
osities are, the more quickly the roots will rot and the lower is the 
resistance of the vine. 

The next step to be taken is to ascertain whether the seedlings, 
which have shown sufficient resistance against the Phylloxera, will 
root readily from cuttings and graft well to Viniferas. In regard to 
the latter quality, there will not be any trouble, if the species pre- 
viously mentioned, are used for hybridization, as they all possess 
this. In selecting parents for hybridizing purposes in general, it is 
necessary that the several qualities desired in their progeny, are the 
aggregate qualities of the former. No hybrids will have any value in 
California, which have not one of the four hardy species, Candicans. 
Berlandieri, Cordifolia and Cinarea, as one of their parents. In re- 
gard to the resistance of a new hybrid to the California vine disease 
or its adaptation to California soil conditions, the general aspect of* 
foliage and root systems, whether it takes more after one parent or 
the other, is indicative of its strength in this respect, but it must 
be remembered that the greatest range of adaptation is obtained by 
hybridizing a vine adapted to wet conditions with one adapted to 
the very driest. Numerous hybrids will have to be rejected even 
in this respect before something is obtained, possessing the great- 
est usefulness. Wonderful achievements are possible in this line, if 
properly and intelligently followed up, and it may also not be out 
of reach, to produce vines entirely equal to the best Viniferas in 
regard to quantity and quality of the fruit, but with a much more 
drouth-resistant foliage. 



Press of The Pacific Tree and Vine, San Jose, Cal. 



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